Even though 90-year-old Mike Fremont set a new American age record last month at the Marshall University marathon, you don’t have to run marathons to be healthy as you approach 90. Rachel Lewis proves just that.I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed a delicious home-cooked lunch which she prepared – free of meat and dairy. But what interested me more about this lively 86-year-old lady was her passion for living, her loquaciousness, and her trim figure. She’s as sharp intellectually as anyone I’ve met and her words flow effortlessly.The Office of Minority Health, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that African American women are the most overweight of all groups of Americans: about 80% are overweight or obese. Almost twice as many African American children are obese when compared to their Caucasian counterparts (Source, CDC, 2012). So why is Rachel so unique? How does she stay trim? What are her secrets?Rachel was born in Cincinnati in 1926 and lived through the Great Depression. Eventually she became a nurse and, in her early 30s, she switched to a vegetarian diet – after joining the Seventh Day Adventist church. However her adherence to this diet fluctuated and she eventually left this church. At 70, with her husband sick, she became more interested in the connection between diet and disease and learned that certain foods are better than others. Gradually she returned to her vegetarian ways.Finally in 2007, at the young age of 81, she decided she was going to take better care of herself and switched completely to a plant-based diet, avoiding all meat and dairy. The results were impressive. At an age when most people are taking more and more medications for their many medical issues and spending much of their time in nursing homes, Rachel lost 15 pounds and was able to gradually get off her high blood pressure meds. Now, let’s think about that situation. Can losing 15 pounds lower blood pressure enough to eliminate the need for medication? Fifteen pounds isn’t a lot of weight unless you’re awfully short. Rachel has average height. So what did the trick? Was it her diet? Could there have been a trigger in the meat and dairy products that caused her blood pressure to run high? Although it’s hard to prove, my guess is that her switching away from meat and dairy had a significant impact on her blood pressure. From personal experience, going vegan helped a friend of mine to lower his cholesterol by 90 points in six weeks.Rachel readily admits that her success does not rely entirely on what she eats. She sticks to an exercise program of walking and stretching for 90 minutes four to five times a week. Her physical fitness keeps her out of a nursing home and allows her to survive quite well on her own. And she doesn’t run marathons to maintain this level of fitness. Diets don’t work but lifestyles do.Rachel walks the walk. Her ikigai, her purpose in life, is to spread the gospel of good health to as many as will listen. In 2010 she and others formed a group to take the message of a plant-based diet and regular exercise to area churches – in hopes of motivating churchgoers to change their lifestyle … before that first heart attack hits. Her group and their efforts can be found at http://clergyhealthcouncil.org/About%20Us.html.When Rachel was a vegetarian, she ate eggs, milk, and butter and, after realizing the connection between dairy and disease, she commented, “I might as well have been eating steak.” Obviously she hasn’t lost her sense of humor.Now, seeing so many obese Americans isn’t a laughing matter. And though many continue to struggle with their weight and succumb to disease, 86-year-old Rachel knows that her positive example will help others to change to a healthier lifestyle. Furthermore, she won’t stop trying, which is great because she’s got plenty of years left in that skinny body and that agile mind. What a great example of a LifeNut!Listen to Rachel as she explains her lifestyle on this YouTube video and please share her message with your friends and relatives.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv5UVa-fJ4Y&feature=youtu.be